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Edmonton Stays Perfect, Tops Minnesota on Road

from Press Release

The Edmonton Rush (7-0) became just the third team in
league history to open a season with seven-straight wins with a
14-9 road victory over the Minnesota Swarm (1-6) in front
of a crowd of 7,195 at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday evening. The
Rush opened the game with three unanswered goals and never looked
back.

The only other teams that have started a season 7-0 are the 1993
and 1996 Buffalo Bandits. Both teams went on to win the
championship in those respective years.

The Rush took charge of the game right away and their defense
demanded every last ounce of effort from the Swarm team.

“That was the defense that we were expecting to see
tonight,” said Swarm assistant coach Bobby Keast. “They
haven’t lost a game for a reason and they showed
it.”

“I think it always starts with our defense,” said
Edmonton general manager and head coach Derek Keenan.
“They’re a pretty dominant group.”

Rooting the Edmonton defense was Goalie Aaron Bold with 37 saves
on 46 shots - a strong factor in the Rush victory.

“Bold was solid,” said Keenan. “He’s
been outstanding all year, he’s taken it to another
level.”

The second quarter saw more penalties than goals. Edmonton was
able to notch two, thanks to Jarrett Davis (1-1) and former Swarm
player Nik Bilic (1-2). Minnesota came up empty in the goal
department but committed two of the three fouls of the quarter.

“I thought we ran the floor extremely well tonight,”
said Keenan. “I thought we did some nice things on
offense.”

The game started to pick up again in the third quarter with a
dominating four-goal streak from Edmonton, including two by Jeremy
Thompson (3-1). The Swarm were unable to answer until Logan Schuss
(2-1) was able to connect with a power play goal. The glory was
soon lost as the Rush’s Chris Corbeil (1-0) scored to end the
quarter with a score of Edmonton 12, Minnesota 4.

Despite an inspiring fourth quarter performance of outscoring
the Rush 5-2, the Swarm were unable to turn the game their way.

“We got a little bit loose,” said Keenan.
“They started to wear us out a little bit there.”

Charged with a surge of athleticism, Callum Crawford (2-6) lead
the fourth quarter charge with a notch that marked his 175th career
goal. Jordan MacIntosh (3-2) contributed to the run by completing
his hat trick.

“Callum actually took the offense on his shoulders and
said ‘come on boys let gets this done’,” said
Keast. “And you know what, I think that inspired others to
play just as hard.”

The energy perpetuated to narrow the gap and leave the final
score 14-9.

The Rush outshot the Swarm by just one, with a total of 47 shots
for Edmonton and 46 for Minnesota. A positive note for the Swarm is
the four goals they produced on six of their power plays, while
holding Edmonton to zero of their six power play attempts. But it
will take more than a bit of positive to win in the National
Lacrosse League and Minnesota is well aware.

“With a young group you gotta try to find that groove and
they just haven’t found that groove yet,” said Keast.
“It’s gotta be a bigger step, it can’t be baby
steps anymore.”

“The only solution is in our dressing room right
now,” said Swarm forward Callum Crawford. “We’re
hoping to find that solution.”

Three Stars of the Game as selected by the media:

1) Aaron Bold2) Callum Crawford3) Jeremy Thompson

Both Minnesota and Edmonton will go on to face Toronto. The
Swarm will visit the Air Canada Centre on Saturday, February 22nd
at 7 p.m. ET and the Rush will enjoy a week off before hosting the
Rock on Friday, February 28th at 9:30 p.m. ET.